July 6, 2011

raspberry mousse


What I anticipate the most about summer is the selection of fruit that you can't buy fresh during the rest of the year. I especially await raspberries, partly because I am not a strawberries freak since we can have them all year round (my parents always freeze enough to satisfy strawberry cravings in winter months), partly because, well, raspberries are just delicious and they taste great just as well fresh as being a main ingredient of a more complex treat. 


This recipe comes from a book that I was gifted on Christmas, and used today for the first time, "1000 desserts". I used a 7cm x 15 cm silicon tin. If you have a bigger tin, you may want to double the recipe. It is not a very sweet dessert. It has got a very strong taste of raspberries, and it a little tart from the orange juice. It's also refreshing and light, so it makes a perfect thing to end a summer dinner with.
Raspberry mousse:

Ingredients (serves 6) :
  • 250 g raspberries
  • 65 g sugar
  • 100 ml heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 10 g gelatin

For topping:
  • Handful of raspberries
  • 4-5 teaspoons confectioner sugar
       
      Directions:
Wash the raspberries, discard any that are molded. Mix the good ones with sugar and 1/3 cup of water, until you get a smooth liquid.
Whip the cream.
Pour the orange juice into a small saucepan on low heat. Add gelatin, mix until dissolved. Be careful not to bring the juice to boil.
Put the gelatin mixture in a bowl. Add raspberries. Stir until combined.
Prepare a bigger bowl. Fill it to half with cold water. Place the bowl with raspberries into the cold water and stir until the consistency is a lot thicker. Carefully add whipped cream.
Pour the mousse into a tin. Cover with foil, place in a fridge. The mousse will take about three hours to set, but if you are impatient, I think that two hours is enough to be able to cut it.
Now, prepare the topping. Mix washed raspberries with sugar.
When your mousse is set, take it out from the tin using a sharp knife. Top it with the sauce. You can also put some fruit on the top.  

Good luck!

July 5, 2011

peach muffins

Since I had little time at the end of schoolyear, I haven't posted a recipe in a long time now. I made cupcakes last night (they didn't make it to the morning, so I couldn't take photos), and thus reminded myself about a recipe that I wanted to post a while ago. 

These muffins are my family's favorite. They all seem to fall for the combination of soft fruit and crunchy top of the muffin, which is a great alternative to any frosting, and compliments the taste of this treat, which contains oat flakes for texture (it fights morning hunger as well!). And these muffins always come out perfect. I have changed the recipe slightly. It was originally posted here. It calls for can peaches and syrup, but you can also use fresh peaches and increase amount of both oil and buttermilk by 40 ml.

Peach muffins:

Ingredients (makes 12 muffins)
  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup oat flakes
  • 1 large egg
  • 100 ml buttermilk
  • 80 ml peach syrup from the can       
  • 1/2 cup oil      
  • 250 g can peaches (about 5 halves)
For the crunchy top:
·         Brown sugar
·         Almond flakes


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 190*C.
Mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, oat flakes, in one bowl. Mix liquid ingredients: buttermilk, oil, egg, syrup, in a second bowl. Add the dry mix to the liquid mixture, mix until just combined. Add diced peaches.
Line the muffin tin with cupcakes lining paper. Divide the batter evenly into cups of the tin, filling to more than 3/4 of it. Sprinkle with  almond flakes and brown sugar so that there is no batter visible.
Bake for 25 minutes. Test with a toothpick before you turn the oven off!